No drilling in the Delta ... for now

Did you ever notice that when a court issues a ruling the losing side often refuses to comment saying they hadn't received the court's formal opinion or that the ruling is under study? More likely, the losers just need time to lick their wounds.
That would seem to be the case with the state Department of Water Resources. Thursday a state appeals court ruled the state may not willy-nilly access private land in the Delta. That access is needed for studies relating to Gov. Jerry Brown's dream of boring a pair of giant tunnels under the estuary. Those tunnels would essentially bypass the fragile Delta, carrying a major source of freshwater south so it can be dumped into canals to quench the thirst of south Valley farmers and south state residents.
In court papers state officials have warned denying access to the land could drive up the cost of the tunnels, estimated at $14.5 billion. It could even jeopardize the project. We can only hope the latter is true.
The 2-1 ruling from the 3rd District Court of Appeal said state access to the land amounted to a "taking" of property under the law. Landowners, the court said, were entitled to formal eminent domain proceedings, including the right to have a jury determine just compensation.
State officials sought access to do soil studies. They want to punch 6-inch holes up to 200 feet deep. Afterward the holes would be filled with grout.
Many Delta landowners opposed the studies and not just because drilling the holes would be an inconvenience to them and that the studies further paved the way for the actual tunnel. They simply oppose the tunnels, reasoning that tapping the Delta's major water source before it enters the estuary threatens their land, their water supply and the environmental stability of the whole system.
These are not trivial concerns.
The DCA's ruling does not end the matter. The state likely will pursue eminent domain proceeding, an effort that was started then dropped earlier. Just as likely is the continued opposition by some 150 Delta landowners of the 240 parcels involved.
Sometime before the state's next move we can expect DWR officials to again rationalize why they think a Delta by-pass system that produces no new water sources and no new water storage is such a good idea.